Genre
Drama
Language
English
Setting and Context
A seedily furnished rooming house room. New York, 2001
Narrator and Point of View
POV is that of Booth and Lincoln
Tone and Mood
Serious, Dramatic, Humorous, Ironic
Protagonist and Antagonist
Protagonist is Lincoln. Antagonist is Booth.
Major Conflict
Booth wants Lincoln to teach him Three-card Monte, but he won't.
Climax
Booth tells Lincoln he is going to marry Grace so, Lincoln needs to move out. Lincoln finally plays a hand of Three-card Monte with Booth and hustles him. Booth kills him for taking his $500 inheritance given to him from their mother when he was 11.
Foreshadowing
Lincoln and Booth's names foreshadow Lincoln's death.
Understatement
It is understated as to how Lincoln is able to live with Booth after Booth slept with his wife.
Allusions
The play is an allusion to being an underprivileged black man in America, namely the generational nature of poverty and having to overcome it in a society that does not work for you.
Imagery
Booth crying out while holding his brother's dead body creates the imagery that he knew not what he was doing.
Paradox
Lincoln tells Booth his Three-card Monte days are over. Paradoxically, he wins money playing it after he loses his job at the arcade and even hustles Booth for his money.
Parallelism
Booth working on his Three-card Monte in the opening of the play parallels Lincoln returning home alone with his winnings from actually playing in the streets. It shows little brother's desire to be like Lincoln.
Personification
Booth and Lincoln personify their namesakes when Booth takes Lincoln's life.
Use of Dramatic Devices
Parks uses Lincoln as Abraham Lincoln to effectively show the African-American man's journey and struggle in America. That there is a looming threat over his life every day.
